Nation’s First Grassroots Green House Opens in Sheridan, Wyoming

April 24, 2012

Golden years are not meant to be spent withering in a nursing home surrounded by strangers, long, empty corridors, and tasteless food. The Green House Project is on a mission to change the institutional ways of operation by implementing a person-centered care model where seniors’ emotional and spiritual well-being are as important as their physical needs. Much like a greenhouse provides the optimal environment for plants to grow, the Green House Project earned its name for developing a nationwide model intended to help seniors flourish.

While the traditional nursing home is organized around maintaining efficiency at the cost of resident-directed decisions, the Green House model is focused on the health benefits of interaction and the cultivation of meaningful relationships. In these cottages you will not find cold, sterile living spaces with large, impersonal dining rooms and medical charts hanging from doors. Instead you will find staff members who know the names and stories of every resident. As elders move in, they are encouraged to bring personal furniture, art, and keepsakes to make spaces feel like home. Every detail favors choice and dignity over the operational efficiency of size and economy.

This environment produces the perfect cultural climate for seniors to thrive.

For nearly five years, Green House Living in Sheridan and TSP’s design team tirelessly tended to this sprout of an idea and on January 31st, they watched it blossom as the doors opened to the nation’s first grassroots-organized Green House Project. With construction of the third and fourth cottages completed in February, 48 elders now call the newly created Village at Cloud Peak Ranch, home.

“The Scott Cottage, the Watt Cottage, the Whitney Cottage, the Founders Cottage… will introduce this change in nursing home care to the state of Wyoming and help other communities as they consider providing the kind of care and fulfilling lives our elders deserve,” said Green House Living in Sheridan President Doug Osborn.